chef sean baker

Meet Sean

For more than twenty years, Sean Baker has been cooking in the San Francisco Bay Area. He spent his early years developing a love for his craft, ranging from vegetable focused kitchens to head to tail. In 2009 he opened Gather restaurant in Berkeley hailed as “the omnivore’s solution” by the New York Times. This lead him to be named "Chef of the Year 2010" by Esquire magazine.  In 2013 Verbena, Gather’s sister restaurant, opened in San Francisco to much acclaim, including being named “Best New Restaurant of 2014” by restaurant critic Anna Roth.

Having grown up in California, Sean has always found intrigue and inspiration in the simbiosis of ingredient and tradition and the way it contributes to our experience of food. Local bounty contributes to a sense of our place and time—the space we currently occupy. Traditional methods of preparation and preservation, on the other hand, contribute to a sense of history and seasons past, honouring those who came before us. 

Throughout his career, Sean has incorporated these traditions into his dishes. Since the beginning his food has focused on showcasing vegetables in all of their different expressions— fresh and preserved— highlighting what they can offer and the complexity each one brings to the table. After extensive travel to Mexico and Japan, and a great deal of study, Sean's style has evolved to reflect the knowledge of ancient traditions and methods of preservation. Showcasing the best of local ingredients, he draws from an ever expanding library of techniques and flavours to create food that tells a story of where we are and how we got here.